Alex Compton Appointed as Full-Time Assistant Coach of Gilas

If you're hoping to further hone the skills of your basketball players for better performance especially in international competitions, you got to do it as a team. You got to appoint someone who's very much capable of doing it on a full-time basis.

And even one of the greatest minds in the history of Philippine basketball in Tab Baldwin can't do it alone. He's also gearing up for a potential run for a fourth-straight championship in the UAAP later this year. And interim Gilas Coach Mark Dickel is serving as team consultant too in the PBA. Fortunately for Gilas Pilipinas, SBP just found a guy who will handle the Gilas cadets in lieu of Dickel and Baldwin although both Baldwin and Dickel will be helping too.

The SBP has appointed former Alaska Aces mentor Alex Compton as a full-time assistant coach of Gilas Pilipinas- an appointment that Compton himself has accepted. While this appointment may come as a  surprise for some, this isn't Compton's first go-around as he also served as an assistant coach for the Philippine team that won the silver medals both during the FIBA Asia Championship and the William Jones Cup- both in 2015.  And, he was seen helping out in the preparation of then Tim Cone-coached Gilas Pilipinas in last year's SEA Games. He is no stranger to Gilas Pilipinas.

In a statement, SBP president Al Panlilio pointed out the fact with Gilas loaded with young guns such as the Gilas draftees led by Isaac Go and, 3-time UAAP Finals MVP Thirdy Ravena, whom the SBP wants to develop, the SBP wants somebody to hone the players' skills and be with them in this journey. And as a 2-time champion in the now-defunct MBA while playing for the Manila Metro Stars and then later with the Batangas Blades, and an assistant coach for most of his career, Compton's experience can help him make an easy connection with the young players.

With Compton's appointment becoming official, the SBP is now focusing on finding a full-time coach. Does this mean that Mark Dickel is out of the picture? While Dickel was appointed on an interim basis, you cannot deny the fact that he did a great job of preparing Gilas Pilipinas in a short period of time when the team was rocked by multiple players begging off plus the cancelation of the Thailand game due to the COVID-19 scare. 

For now, Assistant Coach Alex Compton will hold down the fort. 

Photo is from Fox Sports Asia